Letter: Clean Power Plan saves money, creates jobs

The Clean Power Plan tasks states to lower carbon emissions by reducing energy waste and using more low-carbon energy. The modest objective is to reduce carbon emissions by 32 percent.

Honestly, the only way to reduce C02 output to cut the amount of fossil fuel burned. The fossil fuel industry will cry foul because the plan is to slice away one-third of their business and shift the savings to consumers and the growing clean energy industry.

More efficient power plants and more efficient homes and businesses mean less coal is burned and money is saved. Since the EPA began enforcing emission standards, the industry was forced to be less energy wasteful. Consequently more power is produced using less fuel, which has caused an inflation adjusted drop in the cost of electricity. EPA regulation, instead of increasing the cost of electricity, has actually lowered our electric bills!

In 2008 I traded a 15 mpg vehicle for a 30 mpg vehicle. That cut my fuel usage from 80 to 40 gallons per month, saving me lots of money. Fuel efficiency standards and fuel savvy consumers have created a global oversupply of oil, which is why gas is so cheap - market forces at work.

I had a home energy audit and made sensible energy-saving modifications to my home. My electric bill dropped from $240 to $150 per month. As a bonus, my home became more comfortable. Later, I installed solar panels, eliminating my electric bill altogether. In seven years I cut my use of coal 100 percent and my use of oil 50 percent. My money that was going to Wyoming for coal and Saudi Arabia for oil is now spent here.

Solar farms like CU has east of Springfield, funded by local investors and running on free sunshine, keeps our money in the local economy instead of sending it out-of-state. When we make our homes and businesses more energy efficient, we save money and spend that savings to support our local economy. And the money spent to make buildings more efficient and install solar arrays creates jobs right here in the Ozarks.

So when you think about the Clean Power Plan, think about the money you can save. Think about more jobs in for Ozarks families. Feel sorry for the coal companies if you want — but that’s the nature of progress. Out with the old, in with the new.